Proposal Guidelines

SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE PROPOSAL

TheAcademy of Management Perspectives (AMP) utilizes a presubmission article proposal process. The objective of the proposal process is to be efficient in the processing of articles. We want to know"what" you are going to say, "to whom" you are going to say it,"why" what you are saying is important, and "how" you are going to convince your audience of the veracity of your argument. This allows the editorial team to provide author(s) with information that facilitates the review process, while allowing us to be proactive in working with authors.

Proposals should be no longer than 5 pages single-spaced with standard 1-inch margins and in a 12-point font. The proposal must include the following information with the following headings.

The idea: The specific important and innovative idea that is going to be the focus of the article. Note that there are three parts to this. What is the idea? Why is the idea important? Why is the idea innovative?

To whom is the article speaking: Who is the audience for the article? This is not meant to be answered vaguely - e.g., scholars interested in strategy, students in doctoral courses - but very specifically. Nearly all articles have multiple potential audiences, and you should outline these audiences in terms of their priority. It should also be recognized that AMP speaks to a broader scholarly audience and articles aimed at communicating to narrow groups using a language of that narrow group is likely to lead to rejection of a proposal.

The importance of the idea: Why is what you are proposing important? This needs to be understood as you address how you are going to take your specific knowledge and frame it in a way that resonates with a general audience.

How are you going to communicate your idea: What is the theoretical and empirical evidence the article will be presenting in order to convince your audience of the veracity and importance of your idea? AMP is not an "empirical" journal like Academy of Management Journal or a "theoretical" journal like Academy of Management Review. Nor are we a "case studies" journal. Hence, structuring your argument around propositions or hypotheses, or formatting a standard empirical article is generally not what we are seeking. Your "evidence" should include a preponderance of work that can be summarized effectively and potentially elucidated with additional information that you have gathered independently.

SUBMITTING A SYMPOSIUM PROPOSAL

The Academy of Management Perspectives(AMP) utilizes a presubmission symposium proposal process. The objective of the proposal process is to be efficient in the processing of symposia. We want to know "what" you are going to say, "to whom" you are going to say it, "why" what you are saying is important, and "how" you are going to convince your audience of the veracity of your argument.

What is a symposium? A symposium is a focused collection of articles. AMP utilizes symposia to bring together diverse expertise on a topic of importance to our audience. Please note that a symposium is NOT a special issue, and the articles must be much more than simply a collection of independent articles on a theme. They must be integrated and make a major contribution as a collective unit, and will be reviewed with that goal in mind.

Proposals should be no longer than 5 pages single-spaced with standard 1-inch margins and in a 12-point font (excluding the overview page). The proposal must include the following information with the following headings (note that they need not be in this order with the exception that the Overview be first.)

Overview of the Symposium: You should provide an overview page that includes the following.

The title of the symposium

The organizer of the symposium (this should be one person only)

The specific articles to be included in the symposium (each article should include a title and the authors, along with basic affiliation information)

Recommendations for a symposium editor. Normally, we recommend that your symposium editor be a member of the editorial team (an Editor, Associate Editor or Editorial Board member).

Note that the Overview is not part of the 5-page limitation.

The idea: The specific important and innovative idea that is going to be the focus of the symposia. Note that there are three parts to this. What is the idea? Why is the idea important? Why is the idea innovative? With symposia, the "big idea" is going to be more general (e.g., "the importance of trust"). However, the proposer should aim to ensure that symposium title reflects the idea, that all the articles are going to be addressing and avoid simply saying that "article A will discuss X...,article B will discuss Y ...."

To whom are you speaking: Who is the audience for the symposium? This is not meant to be answered vaguely - e.g., scholars interested in strategy, students in doctoral courses - but very specifically. By definition, a symposium will have multiple potential audiences, and you should outline these audiences in terms of their priority. It should also be recognized that AMP speaks to a broader scholarly audience, and articles aimed at communicating to narrow groups using a language of that narrow group is likely to lead to rejection of a proposal.

The importance of the idea: Why is what you are proposing important to the audience to whom you are addressing your discussion? This needs to be understood as you address how the symposium authors are going to take their specific knowledge and frame it in a way that resonates with your more general target audience.

How are you going to communicate your idea: What is the theoretical and empirical evidence the articles will be presenting, in order to convince your audience of the veracity and importance of your idea? It is important here to recognize that AMP is not an "empirical" journal like Academy of Management Journal or a "theoretical" journal like Academy of Management Review. Nor are we a "case studies" journal. Hence, arguments structured around propositions or hypotheses, or formatting it like a standard empirical article is generally not what we are seeking. Your "evidence" should include a preponderance of work that can be summarized effectively and potentially eludicated with additional information that you have gathered independently.

It is important to note that the Editors may accept the general idea behind a symposium, but choose to not include all of the articles that are being proposed. Hence, it is very important that you think carefully about how to integrate the articles, and do so in a manner that reveals why the collection is important.

To submit a manuscript, first make sure you have a Word file from which the title page and all author identifying references have been removed. Then, go to theWebsite and follow the directions. Acknowledgments of others' help in preparing the paper for submission should be included in the letter to the Editor that is featured as part of the Web-based submission process.